Perchlorate panelist resigns

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

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Perchlorate-Panel Member Resigns

By PETER WALDMAN 
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
June 11, 2004 

A member of the National Academy of Sciences review board on perchlorate
pollution resigned from the panel after co-authoring an outside report
downplaying the health effects of the widespread water contaminant.

The resignation of Richard Bull, an environmental-risk consultant based
in Richland, Wash., marks an apparent victory for environmental groups
that have pushed for his removal since it came out in December that Mr.
Bull and another panelist consulted for the aerospace industry on
perchlorate-related issues. Last month, in a letter to NAS president
Bruce Alberts, Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer wrote that
Dr. Bull and Charles Capen of Ohio State University may have conflicts
of interest that favor polluters. At the time, both men denied any conflicts.

Perchlorate, a main ingredient in solid rocket fuel, was discharged over
the past five decades into water supplies in some 22 states,
particularly in the West. The Environmental Protection Agency, in a
draft risk assessment, says it may impair brain development of fetuses
and children in concentrations above one part per billion in drinking
water, after accounting for data uncertainties. Perchlorate contaminates
the Colorado River, the main water source for more than 15 million
people, in concentrations from four to 20 parts per billion. The
Pentagon and the defense industry have vehemently contested the EPA's
assessment, prompting the Bush administration to refer the matter to the
independent NAS for review. The NAS report is expected this fall. 

...

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-- 


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org

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